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As humans, I believe we have an innate desire to have something to stand for, something to fight for, an activity to identify with - a cause.

We only have to turn on the news to see the plethora of “causes” that we can choose to fight for. They range from issues like art and culture, community projects, health and science, social injustice, gender equality, politics etc. These causes are important and have achieved so much goodness for our world. This is no surprise given Ephesians 2:10 reveals that we have been "created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

But - I believe we have a tendency to fit God into this list of agenda items. As if Jesus is just another “cause” to stand for. When we do this, we put the creator of the universe Himself on a list of options to choose from, as if He is somehow both disconnected or separate from the issues of this world and at the same time on par with them as another “cause” to put our efforts to.

A few days ago, I was watching a documentary about the Stephen Lawrence murder. The gross injustice and failings of our legal system awakened an anger within me, a desire to fight against injustice, to fight for a “cause”. And in that moment, I caught myself doing exactly what I described above - instead of taking this issue to God in prayer, I was immediately weighing up in my head how I could fight for this cause while maintaining my responsibilities for the ‘cause’ of my ministry. It can be so easy to compartmentalise our life into groups of functions or tasks.

So let’s remind ourselves of this one simple truth. “Everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him” Colossians 1:15-18 (MSG). That ‘Him’ is Jesus. He is is not another “cause”, He is THE REASON for it all.

The reason our world is in the mess it’s in is because we diverted from His original purpose in the first place. God’s desire was not simply to save us, but to have children who reflect and express Him. But sin drove a wedge between us and God. We could not reflect or express what we no longer knew. This is the position much of the world remains in. This state of existence reflects the tree of knowledge of good and evil - choosing independence from God over dependence on Him - while rejecting the tree of life, which is Christ himself - the way, the truth and the life. Thankfully Jesus made a way to bring us back into right standing with God - through the work and power of what He did on the cross and in His resurrection.

I believe our desire to fight for a “cause” to “put things right” is a reflection of a deep disaffection in the heart of mankind - a knowing that this world is not as it should be.

Romans‬ ‭1:18-19‬ ‭describes those who ignore God as suppressing the truth. “They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them”. So no matter how many “causes” we rally behind, we must have God’s truth at the forefront.

So I’ve written all this to say something that’s quite simple. Maybe like me you’ve been so focused on activity that you’ve lost your focus on Jesus. The busyness of life has taken over and God is becoming another item on a long to-do list. If that’s you, join me in taking a moment to pause and refocus on Him. This world is full of ‘causes’ and it’s constantly dictating to us what’s deemed important. But truth isn’t a concept, it’s a person. Truth is Jesus. Everything, and I mean everything, got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him.

After all, isn’t life his idea in the first place?

written by Katherine Martin.

Liz says...

Thank you Katherine; what a wonderful article highlighting the importance of having Jesus front and centre in our lives in all things.